Chewable pet toys benefit pets—and, thus, their owners—in various ways. Chewable toys provide enjoyment and distraction for a pet and help to keep the pet occupied when the pet's owner is unavailable. Such toys also directly provide to pets mastication exercise as well as dental sanitation. Chewable pet toys which are compressible are known to enhance these benefits by incorporating an attractant such as pet treats or noise-makers therein.
One known construction of such a noise-making chewable toy incorporates one or more devices that emit sound when the pet chews on or otherwise squeezes the toy due to the passage of air through the devices. These devices, typically known as “squeakers,” are usually made of reeds or other similar devices that vibrate when air is passes through them, with the vibration emitting a sound the animal finds attractive. While squeakers are effective at producing sound, they are less effective at producing a vibration for the animal in response to its squeezing the toy.
One known construction of chewable pet toys includes elastic materials that enable the pet toy to be squeezed or bent in response to an animal's bite without the toy deforming or breaking. After the animal has finished chewing on the pet toy, it returns to its original shape. Such material is useful in pet toys, because it gives the animal a sensation of chewing, without destroying the pet toy. However, elastic materials are not known to make noise or create a vibration for the animal chewing a toy constructed of it.
Other materials used in chewable pet toys are not elastic, but rather exhibit plasticity. Such “plastic” materials do not readily break when external force is applied, nor are they elastic. Rather, plastic materials deform with external pressure such as a pet biting down on it. When such deformation occurs, it creates a “crackling” noise and vibration that is attractive to the animal. One such known plastic material is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), commonly used in constructing plastic soda bottles.
PET bottles are known to be used in association with pet toys. However, there are several concerns with its use. PET cannot withstand the piercing force of a dog bite, and will readily puncture and break, thus reducing the life of the toy and may further pose a hazard to the animal with exposed edges and shards of PET. It is also preferable to isolate direct exposure with PET from the dog due to potential chemicals in that plastic material. Furthermore, PET must be relatively thin in order to deform to cause the desired noise and vibration of a pet toy. Such thin PET can break if it is not supported by a solid material beneath it, or otherwise secured to a more durable material. While a sealed PET bottle may offer some support through its sealed air pressure, it is insufficient to withstand the repeated biting and chewing by a large dog. Particularly, the PET becomes less and less effective as a sound and vibration generator if it is permitted to migrate, over repeated bites, to a collapsed orientation, without repositioning it back to most of its original pre-bite shape. Further, a sealed PET bottle can be pierced by a strong-enough bite.
It would be desirable to provide a pet toy containing a plastic material component that deforms to creates a crackling noise and vibration, yet is protected from an animal's bite such that the plastic will not puncture or break. At the same time, it is desirable to provide a construction in which the PET is returned to its original orientation, before deformation by an animal's bite, to enhance repeated sound and vibration generation, in the environment of a dependable, yet safe and durable, pet chew toy.